barikad crew

Here is a picture of the former manager of the musical group Barikad Crew, Youri Chevry. In this picture, he is seen with Anick Francois, He was installed as the new mayor of Port-au-Prince. Youri Chevry does understand that the job of a mayor, specially that of a mayor of Port-au-Prince is extremely difficult.

On June 28, 2016, Youri Chevry (born October 14, 1967), the former manager of the musical group Barikad Crew has been installed as the new Mayor of the capital city, Port-au-Prince. For those, who wanted to know whether he would continue with his band 'Barikad Crew', Sassoune, the person closest to him said, as the present mayor of Port-au-Prince, he has relinquished his management duties, but would continue his association with the band. In the late 1980's, Youri went to Brooklyn to study management and sound engineering. He came to the musical arena much before the Gracia Delva era. In 2003, he joined Konpa Factory, Inc. as a director. The company was responsible for booking and promoting Bel Jazz in Haiti. Youri lost his wife and 11-year-old daughter in the 2010 earthquake. In last October, when he was campaigning as a candidate for mayor of Port-au-Prince under LAPEH banner, Yuri with his Jeans, loose shirt sleeves looked much different from his other contenders in the political race. He talked in a calm, little hesitant way about his plan for the youths and the capital city. As the new mayor, he has promised to make Port-au-Prince a clean city, the safety and security of every citizen will be ensured with the support of PNH and MINUSTAH. The municipal administration will work to encourage and stimulate the return of businesses in the downtown Port-au-Prince.

Here are some of the pictures of Haitian singer Daniel Darinu, known as "Fantom" as he is recovering in Miami from burns sustained at the Kaaval accident in February, 2015.

Barikad Crew's vocalist Fantom was electrocuted by a low-hanging power line during Carnival. Hit in the face, he passed out as a blinding light flashed in the air. He is being treated for burns in South Florida, crediting God for saving his life. He is making a good recovery and will be back in Haiti for the release of his latest CD.

The electrocution of Fantom caused a stampede, and 17 victims lost their lives.

This is a picture of Fantom from Barikad crew as he was receiving care in a hospital following Kanaval accident

One parade witness reported she ". . . saw the wire falling and sparks and . . . started running for my life" Another witness stated ". . . the crowd seemed to surge all at once . . . I saw people running so I did too"

Video captured ambulance emergency personnel running past crowds of people carrying the stricken on stretchers. The hospital grounds were crammed with hundreds bearing victims or seeking information about family members. As victims were confirmed dead a wailing rose up. The hospital morgue was flooded with the dead.

Prime Minister Paul announced three days of national mourning and ordered the last day of Carnival cancelled. Government officials announced there would be a state funeral for the deceased, and a candlelight vigil for all the victims.

Haiti has a practice whereby someone aboard a parade float is called upon to use an object to move lethal, low-hanging wires away from the passing float. This seems like an ill-advised and potentially hazardous custom, and it is surprising the government has been negligent in this aspect of public safety. But it always takes a tragedy to motivate officials to take action to prevent further deadly incidents.

The government is now formulating a plan to update its state public utility, EDH, and running some power lines beneath the parade route for its next Carnival.

Haitian Prime Minister Evans Paul decreed three days of national mourning for 16 people electrocuted and killed by a falling overhead power line during the 2015 Carnival parade. Another 78 people were either killed or injured during a stampede away from the sparking cable flailing in the air.

Eyewitnesses at the parade said a person seated atop one of 16 floats in the parade took a stick and tried to move a power line in the path of the float. Suddenly the power line fell, electrocuting a member of Barikad Crew, its lead vocalist Fantom, who survived. Some people were able to escape injury, but others could not avoid being struck by the sparking cable. Paul cancelled the last day of Carnival, and his government will hold a state funeral for the deceased as well as a candlelight vigil at the accident site for all victims.

A video recording shows that during the three-day long carnival festival "Nou Tout Se Ayiti" (we are all Haiti), a large float for a band named the Barikad Crew was performing beneath a series of high-voltage overhead power cable. When the procession was passing the presidential stand packed with spectators, one of their singers who was standing high on the float, attempted to remove the high voltage wire with a pole. All of a sudden, he came into the contact of a wire that sets off a bright flash of light and he was dead. A sudden panic caught the people around the float and they started running helter-skelter.

The unfortunate incident occurred during the high spirited three day carnival festival "Nou Tout Se Ayiti" (we are all Haiti), that began on Sunday with dancing and singing. We should remember that this year's carnival was being celebrated in the country's capital for the first time in the last four years and it attracted large night-time crowds who were eager to witness competing bands atop highly-decorated floats. In the last three years, as per the decision of the country's concerned official, three provinces, Les Cayes, Gonaives and Cape Haitian, had celebrated the festival.

Later on the same day, the new Haitian Prime Minister Evans Paul arranged a silent condolence parade on the Champ de Mars where the accident occurred. People attended the parade in white dress. Three days of national mourning was observed, flags were flown half mast till Saturday, the day when the state funeral was held. The Haitian President Michel Martelly has expressed his sincere sympathy and gave his condolences to the victims on Twitter.

The accldent in 2015 was not the forst time the musical group Barikad crew was involved in accident in Haiti. In 2008, four Barikad Crew members and their driver died in an accident.

At least 16 people were killed and more than 60 people were injured of stampede in an ensuing panic by the bystanders when a carnival float hit a power line in the Haitian capital on February 17, 2015. As per Associated Press news agency report, someone on the float used a pole to move a live power line out of the way so that the float could pass under it. The persons, who had received the direct contact, were electrocuted immediately with a flash of sparks. A post in the "You Tube" shows that the electric cable caught the head of a singer from the hip-hop band 'Barikad Crew' while the float was passing the presidential stand packed with spectators. The star singer of the group "Fantom" has been admitted to the hospital and reported to be still in critical condition.

Float Accident at Haiti Carnival Parade, 20 Dead. Following the accident, the government has commented on being desirous of preventing such occurrences from taking place in the future. Their quick response, as detailed by Rothschild Francois Jr., Minister of Communications, was to set up an inter-agency commission to report on the incident. He said they would be inspecting for safety all high tension cables as a short term plan to protect the public, and also looking into the modernization of the electricity framework as provided by the state-run electricity company, EDH. These modern improvements may consist of the laying out of lines underground on those streets where the carnival would be held annually.

While no carnival celebration anywhere in the world is without its instances of danger, the 2015 Haitian Carnival season was marred by a particularly gruesome accident which resulted in the deaths of 20 people and injury to many others including a popular singer. Reports surfaced on Tuesday, February 17 that a singer, Fantom, from the Hip-Hop group Barikad Crew came into contact with an overhead power line that touched him as the float passed by. The man was electrocuted, and several others were reported to have been as well.

The real danger was a stampede that occurred when the public realized what was happening. Scores of panicked carnival goers began to run away from the float, trampling underfoot those unfortunate enough to fall. Initial tallies were that 15 men and 3 women had been killed, but that number has since grown from 18 to 20 people with a reported 70 others injured.